05
2008
The Communicators’ Election Breakdown
Now that Obama has officially won, post mortems can begin. Ragan Communications ran a great story about what the election taught communicators. All in all the article had 15 tips for communicators.
I was interviewed and offered a couple of tips for Michael Sebastian’s piece:
1) Social media is here to stay.
You know the executives that balk at implementing social media campaigns, well Barack Obama and John McCain showed that social media is no passing fad. Both candidates embraced blogs, social networks and Web video.
“These presidential campaigns are always trying to innovate and try the latest, greatest and best ways to activate their grassroots constituencies,” explained Washington D.C.-based PR pro Geoff Livingston. “And so for them to use social media tools as heavily as they have is to legitimize it.”
The Obama campaign created a social network, MyBarackObama, on its official Web site. Members of that network at times criticized the candidate over his various positions. Livingston called this an ideal model for large corporate organizations.
“If you can’t control your local people or your retail chain (for instance, a large charity or an automobile manufacturer with dealerships all over the place) who might be communicating or blogging on social networks then give them the tools to communicate. Enable them with the brand; don’t control them,” he explained.
The article offers some substantive points. I hope you’ll check it out. I’d also like to add a couple more reflection points.
McCain’s attempts to play into his personal brand — “maverick” — backfired on him. At first Palin bulwarked the claims and the race was neck and neck. But then the economy tanked, and McCain pulled out of the first debate to save the country vis a vis our 700 billion dollar bail-out. Whoops. All of the sudden the Palin choice came underfire. Note for communicators: A personality oriented brand does not necessarily equate to successful results.
Here’s what some Twitterers thought of the maverick personal branding:
And secondly, TV still matters. I think Obama handed McCain his hat in the debates, not by being wittier, but simply coming across as younger and more vibrant. It was a rerun of Kennedy versus Nixon in that sense.
What do you think were the key communications lessons from the 2008 election?
Bob Says:
November 4th, 2008 at 11:04 pm
The Obama team did a lot of things that rocked the boat. The people wielding social media were just as key as the efforts that they engaged in. Of course substantial numbers of those people were recruited using social media.
Bob
Jobmatchbox.com
Patrick Riccards Says:
November 5th, 2008 at 10:59 am
The challenge before the Obama team now is how to take all it did in building a social network throughout the nation and keep it moving and keep it producing and keep it contributing to the overall goal. Social media should be a revolution, not a movement.
But let’s try to keep the mainstream media away from new technologies, can we? The CNN live holograms from Grant Park in Chicago was all a bit silly, unnecessary, and a little weird.
Lara Kretler Says:
November 5th, 2008 at 11:28 am
A key communications lesson for me was the power of Twitter throughout the campaign but especially last night. Election night 2008 on Twitter was unforgettable - a truly unique experience. With Twitter on my laptop and CNN (occasionally switching around to other networks) on the TV, it was an evening unlike any other. Twitter kept me abreast of what was happening across all networks/media and it was fascinating to see where news broke first. Not only that, the shared reactions and spirit of cameraderie and community among those watching made me appreciate Twitter all the more. It’s truly a powerful tool for communication, community building, breaking news, and content sharing.
Craig Says:
November 5th, 2008 at 12:05 pm
I agree that social media played a larger role in this election than in 04. I liked how Facebook had their polls in basically real time show the number of voters out there and asked for different opinions. This is the standard for future elections and as new technologies arrive, those will be implemented as well. Of course traditional media and advertising are very important in an election campaign, but social media hits a new and different target that clearly paid off with voters.
Craig
http://www.budgetpulse.com
Geoff Livingston Says:
November 5th, 2008 at 12:50 pm
Patrick: Viva la revolution! Excellent idea.
Lara: Excellent insights. I did not follow Twitter closely, but probably should have.
Rich Becker Says:
November 5th, 2008 at 5:43 pm
Geoff,
Social media certainly helped, but it was part of a much larger integrated campaign with the largest budgets in the history of political races — $650 million. McCain only half that, and was disallowed to raise any additional money in September and October. For much of the campaign he outspent McCain as much as 4-to-1.
The primary reason McCain could not mount a come back was basic strategic communication flaw in that they allowed Obama to brand McCain as Bush Lite, which wasn’t very accurate but stuck because McCain shifted too conservative in order to win the primary.
McCain’s defense was certainly weak as you point out, which is where the Maverick comment came from (primarily because Republicans had called him one during the 2000 primary). Thus, the Bush Lite brand didn’t stand a chance once Bush was blamed for the economic crisis (and Congress somehow exempted).
I also agree with you on the debates, but I like to think it was more than racism being replaced by ageism.
Loved your answers, btw.
Best,
Rich
Zinios Says:
November 7th, 2008 at 1:13 pm
In general Obama suprisingly well social media marketing. I live in Lithuania, hope our politicians soon won’t find this communication mean :)
Amelia Says:
November 8th, 2008 at 10:48 am
It was the incredible way that Obama combined the Long Tail with the Big Head.
Old world and new world in a wonderful blend.
http://ameliatorode.typepad.com/life_moves_pretty_fast/2008/11/the-worlds-first-long-tail-president-albeit-with-a-big-head.html
Leave a Reply
Categories
Recent Comments
Conversation Starters: A Modern View of Messaging:
About:
Inside Mashable’s Summer of Social Good:
Market Research Makes the World Go Round:
Five Social Media Strategies:
The Herculean Effort to Stop Ignoring Customers:
Recent Posts
Resources
Archives
About this Blog
The Buzz Bin offers readers musings and analysis on marketing, buzz, PR and Washington, DC from the team at Livingston Communications.Read more about us ...
» buy the book
A primer on New Media for Executives and Entrepreneurs.
Copyright © 2009 CRT/tanaka